6Western Mercia - AD 874 Ancient virgin forest sprawls away west, over the horizon and across the border into wild, mountainous barbarian lands. Dark and forbidding, it is the domain of the little people and a place where humans fear to tread. Yet even so, it is inevitably in retreat, away from the slow, insatiable onslaught of mankind. Close within the forest's eastern boundary, a small village unobtrusively ekes out a living, untroubled by the war consuming the rich lands to the east. Simple people existing in harmony with their environment: respectful of the natural world but wary of the supernatural. One innocent young girl, ignorant of the consequences, crosses the line. One faerie elder, guardian of the forest, decides that enough is enough. Dark ages indeed...